The probability that we are not living in a simulation, opposed to living in the original world, is only one in a million. The argument was put forward by Nick Bostrom and Hans Moravic. It's hard to imagine that our future progeny would not be curious enough if they have the capacity to spin up worlds in which consciousness emerges.
Last year, Rufus sat down with philosopher David Chalmers to talk about the allure of virtual reality, whether robots will ever achieve consciousness, and the likelihood that we’re living in a simulation (David thinks it’s about 25 percent). It was a fascinating, freewheeling conversation, and we left large chunks of it on the cutting room floor. Now, though, with ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms taking the world by storm, those unaired sections, many of which were about the ethics of artificial intelligence, feel super relevant. So today, we’re sharing our complete interview with David. Buckle up. It’s a wild ride.